Bordeaux is the world’s premier wine capital! Here is detailed look at the region’s key districts, including the Médoc and its appellations, Pessac-Léognan, the Right Bank areas of Pomerol and St.-Emilion, and the sweet wine areas of Sauternes and Barsac: http://assets.winespectator.com/wso/Maps/Bordeauxmap.pdf The Bordeaux region of France produces some of the world’s most famous wines including: St. Emilion, Margaux and Pauillac. The wine regions of Vino con Vista

The Bordeaux region is naturally divided by the Gironde Estuary into the Left Bank and the Right Bank. The Left Bank area includes the Médoc and Graves. The Right Bank area includes the Libournais, Bourg and Blaye.

Wine-growing areas of the left bank of Bordeaux; Médoc, Graves and Sauternes (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“The Médoc is divided into Haut-Médoc (the upstream or southern portion) and Bas-Médoc (the downstream or northern portion, often referred to simply as “Médoc”).” There are various sub-regions within the Haut-Médoc, including St-Estèphe, Pauillac, St.-Julien and Margaux. Graves includes the sub-regions of Pessac-Léognan and Sauternes. Sauternes includes the sub-region of Barsac. The Libournais includes the sub-regions of Saint-Émilion and Pomerol. There is an additional wine region of Entre-Deux-Mers, so called because it lies between the Garonne and Dordogne rivers, which combine to form the Gironde. All of these regions (except the Libournais) have their own appellation. They are “governed by Appellation d’origine contrôlée laws which dictate the permissible grape varieties, alcohol level, methods of pruning and picking, density of planting and appropriate yields as well as various winemaking techniques.” Bordeaux wine labels will usually include the region on the front of the label.

English: A 2004 Château de Rochemorin Blanc, a wine from Pessac-Léognan in the Graves subregion of Bordeaux. It is one of André Lurton’s wine estates. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)